War Is No Place For Dreamers
by Amles80
Summary: Conrad and Yozak come across a small village during the war. Problem is, other people find it too... Warning: dark!fic, ANGST, violence; war is bad! Written for a prompt at LJ.


Every river they came to was bridge-less, as if its name had been erased, as if the sky were starless, homes doorless. Some of the rivers were colored red, even if there wasn't a battle going on within earshot or eyesight.

It was just a matter of time. They were going to get to use their swords soon again, very soon.

None of them said it out loud but Conrad knew that his comrade – the only one that was left– wasn't that different from him. If he was tired of fighting, so was Yozak. But it didn't matter. If they had to fight, they fought.

There was a glade in the forest and they came upon a village, or more like a small gathering of houses. Everything was quiet.

Then they heard an infant crying from one of the houses, and soon after, another child began to wail in sympathy.

Conrad and Yozak stopped and looked at each other. For a moment there had been hope that the small village was deserted; they could have taken what was needed (if there was anything) or even find comfortable shelter for the night.

But if there were people… well, it depended on what kind of people there were.

As they stood there, Conrad trying to decide if they should leave quietly or just go for it, there was a rattle behind them.

He turned around quick as the wind, and he saw a young woman standing there, pale as a piece of paper because of the shock of seeing soldiers in such a remote place, and there were logs scattered around her feet. One of them was still rolling and it stopped right in front of Yozak.

Then the woman spoke:

"Please, don't hurt us. We don't wish to take part in this war. We never did! We are outcasts who don't belong anywhere, we can't turn to human countries or to Shin Makoku, all we can do is to beg for your mercy. Please, my lord…"

She fell to the ground, trembling but not sobbing, and Conrad realized with a chill down his spine that they had stumbled across a community of humans and mazoku living together. The children who were crying could be mazoku or human, or they could be just like him; something in between.

Except that he wasn't that. Not in between. He served Shin Makoku, just as Yozak and the others who had been with them when the war started, and it was completely against everything they fought for to show mercy to these people who had not tried to protect themselves by choosing a side.

Not that choosing a side was that easy. He knew that it was nearly impossible sometimes; not a choice at all. Like the woman had said; they were outcasts…

"Commander…" Yozak touched his arm and looked at him, and Conrad could read the silent message in his eyes: _Let's get the hell out of here!_

Conrad was inclined to agree – too bad, bye bye food and shelter – but before he could open his mouth to say so, there was an even louder rattle to the left of where they were standing.

Three mazoku soldiers came bursting through the vegetation, their swords already drawn, and they stopped a few feet away from Conrad and his friend.

Just by taking one look at them Conrad could tell that this was people who loved the war, not because of the cause but because of the brutality it released in them. He was sure they felt no remorse of pain, but that they smiled when they killed an unarmed man, and as for women and children…

He tried to think quickly. They were only three. They looked like savages and had probably been separated from their troop a while ago, either by force or by choice. Technically they were on the same side, but what about the children…

"What do we have here?" said the commander of the small band. "We can't be that close to the border; this has to be a human village, right?"

"These people just want to be left alone", Conrad begun, but the woman, who was now on standing up, cried:

"We have Mazoku here! You don't want to kill your own kind, do you?"

Conrad could see faces carefully looking out of doors and windows. It was as if the whole village held its breath; even the children were quiet.

The newcomers were filled with rage and fury; all of a sudden it was there – or had it only been lurking beneath the surface? – and filled them up like a wineskin is filled with wine from a barrel.

"What?" His voice was like thunder. "Is this a _mixed_ village? Then it shall be no more!"

He turned around to look at his companions and they nodded and then they turned to the houses and shouted in chorus:

"All the beings that make up the element of fire, obey us and destroy this village!"

The woman cried and there were cries from the houses; doors were opened and people began running outside, but it was too late; a ring of fire already surrounded the buildings and the only ones who were safe from it were the nine soldiers or the woman who must be human or half human. She cried and cried.

Conrad could only wish some of the mazoku in there were water users who could defend their home, but it appeared not to be that way.

"Stop this at once!" he said. "These are harmless people; old people, women and children…"

"What kind of Shin Makoku soldier are you to say such a thing?" said the leader brute. "These people are nothing but harmless, they are blood traitors and dirty half-bloods! Surely you must realize that they have to be punished for this!"

Conrad put his hand on his sword and he opened his mouth to talk back, but Yozak put his hand on his arm before he said anything.

"Don't be like that, Commander. There's no use stopping this fire; what has to be done has to be done."

Conrad stared at him in deep shock. What in the world was his friend talking about?

Then he got it. Yozak was trying to save their lives… somehow.

There was nothing they could do to put out a fire created by magic, and very soon it was going to come even closer to the houses, and… Conrad felt faint, weaker than ever before during that war, and he was powerless because he did not have magic and could not summon water from anywhere.

But by pretending that Conrad had that power, Yozak implied that they were pure-blooded Mazoku, and the savage brutes would leave them alone and they wouldn't have to fight them, although they _could_.

Why didn't Yozak want him to use his sword?

Conrad couldn't think straight. He looked at Yozak, at the strangers, at the crying girl, and he looked down at his hand that was still holding his sword so tightly.

Then two of the soldiers that had come from the forest grabbed the girl and pulled her closer.

"This one, though… We're keeping her around for a bit, don't you think, guys?"

They were ugly, the way they were grinning so widely, so greedily, so brutally.

"Don't", he said. "Listen to me; this may be war, but that is no reason to behave like animals. We are Shin Makoku soldiers – and sometimes, when I see the likes of you, I fear for the future of our country."

The leader brute stared at him.

"Is that so, Stranger? You talk like you're a prince or something! So, Your Highness doesn't want us to have our way with this girl? Because that sort of thing is beneath us? Well, then, Stranger… she's just a human, and we'd kill her sometime soon anyway."

Before Conrad could react, the man had found a dagger somewhere close to him, and he slit the girl's throat open.

There was nothing to do but to watch life pour away from her and into the ground. But at least she didn't have to be raped before she died. She didn't have to die in that fire.

Conrad turned around.

"Let's go", he said to his friend. "We have no business here."

They walked away, and they didn't rest. Soon, soon, the fire would have crept up close enough to the houses to set them on fire. He didn't want to know anything about it.

They didn't stop until later, when it was almost night. Conrad took a deep breath. He thought that he could still smell the smoke, but it had to be wrong. He closed his eyes and just breathed, breathed.

The forest around him didn't smell like smoke. It smelled… green. It smelled of life. Moss and trees and decaying leaves and small flowers.

"Sometimes," Yozak said behind him, "I wonder if this war is ever going to end."

"Why didn't you let me kill them?" Conrad asked without opening his eyes.

Yozak was quiet for a long moment before he replied:

"I know what you mean, and I feel the same way. Those people didn't deserve to die, and they were like us… But who truly deserves to die anyway? This is war, and yet… I don't know, I just figured… there has to be some rules, right?"

"Right", Conrad sighed and opened his eyes. "Rules… yeah, rules and war, that makes so much sense…"

"I'm not saying it does", Yozak replied. "What I'm saying is that mazoku kill humans in this war. The people back there were half-humans and yes, we can argue that they're also half-mazoku but those guys didn't think so, and let's face it, how many mazoku truly think we're as good as them? But if we had killed those bastards like we very well could have because no one would ever have known, we would have been as bad as they are. And also, if we turn against our own… well, who knows where this will end? Everybody kills everybody else according to their own personal set of beliefs…"

Conrad listened to his friend's rant and slowly shook his head.

"I get your point. But from what we have seen lately, I'm afraid that this war is turning out exactly like that – everybody's war against everybody."

"Not yet, though", Yozak said and tried to breathe some warmth into his cold hands. "Might be over soon, you know."

"Hmpf", Conrad said. "Julia always says that there will come a time… a time when humans and mazoku…"

His voice died away. He had always wanted to believe Julia's words, but sometimes it was hard to even remember the sound of her voice.

"Hard to see how something like that can ever come from this war", Yozak said.

They didn't say anything at all for a while.

"The important thing right now", Conrad said, "is to get through another day. We'll get out of here alive and then maybe one day…"

"You're a dreamer, too, Commander. Are you cold? Come here; we'll get through the night together."

The night wind was cool, but the two of them sat close together sharing body heat. They didn't speak anymore but each of them was grateful for the other's presence. Neither of them wanted to think about tomorrow.


End file.
